January 20, 2010

INTRODUCTION
India’s caste system has long imposed a hierarchical structure on society within the region. Despite the fact that India’s constitution has made caste based discrimination illegal there is still strong evidence to suggest that it still plays a major role in Indian society.

Given that the Hindu faith promotes religious tolerance, India has long been recognized as a country that is open to all faiths. Many faiths such as Buddishm and Jainism originated in India and India’s Jewish population remains the only diaspora in Jewish history which has never encountered a single incident of anti-sematism. India is also home to the second largest population Muslims in the world.

So while India has had a long history of religious tolerance it has simultaneously maintained a strong adherence to the rigid hierarchical structure of the caste system.

This section of the blog will explore the interplay between religious openness and adherence to the caste system and how it impacts Indian Identity today.

INDIA’s HISTORY AS AN OPEN SOCIETY
In the following brief video, Sashi Tharoor outlines India’s long history as an open society where people of all faiths have been allowed to freely and openly practice their faiths.

CASTE SYSTEM DEFINED
One of the most widely commented upon features of Indian society is the caste system. The origin of the usage of the term “caste” is traced to the 16th century when the Portuguese came to India and found the Indian community divided into many separate groups which they called “castas” meaning tribes, clans or families.

The four fold classification: Brahmins, Kshatriyas, Vaisyas and Sudras – in descending order of social status is believed to have originated as a feature of Hindu society, but the influence of caste has made its way into most non-Hindu religions in India also.

A.L. Basham defines caste as a system of groups within the class which are normally:

Endogamous – Marriage being legitimate only within the group.

Commensual – Food to be received from and eaten only in the presence of members of the same or higher group

Craft Exclusive – Each man to live by the trade or profession of his own group and not take up that of another.

CASTE SYSTEM DETAIL
In the video below, Dr. Mridu Rai, Associate Professor of History at Yale, delves more deeply into the history of the caste system in India from 1200 BC to the legal elimination of caste based discrimination in the constitution of modern-day independent India.

Please review the first 10 minutes of this interview to gain a deeper understanding of the nuances of the caste system in India.

Finally, please view the following short excerpt from an interview with Cyril Shroff, or a non-academic perspective on the caste system and its impact on business today, despite the fact that it is considered illegal.